Chapter 40
Welcome to Hidden secrets, my second novel in this series. If you've just stumbled onto my blog and discovered this novel, you may want to go back and read the first novel, Secrets at Midnight, posted in 2013, and then return. Hopefully I'll have Hidden Secrets completely posted before you get back.
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 40
Men in dark alley's always die.
That thought went through Matt's mind the
moment he realized where he'd been dragged.
Not me! His mind screamed.
Red-hot adrenalin raced through his body, sending his
elbow out so fast and hard it knocked the man behind him into the wall like
he'd been hit by a speeding freight train. His next thrust was hampered when
the first man grabbed his arm. Fortunately, with only half the strength he'd
put into it, his knuckles hit the cement wall. Pain burst through him like
ultra-white lightning.
Matt's only thought was escape. His next swing had to
accomplish it. Every ounce of training and force he had went into it. The
knife-wielding man got the full impact and sank to the pavement with a thud.
Wild-eyed with fright, the remaining assailant stepped back, then turned and
fled, his footfalls echoing off the dark walls.
Matt stepped back and felt the cool stucco-coated wall
behind him. He sucked in a breath and the pain that had been held at bay during
the fight escaped. It seared through him. His head spun. He slid to the ground
and sat with his knees to his chest, gasping for air. Slowly he stretched one
leg out to steady himself, feeling like a canoe tossing on a choppy sea needing
an out-rigger. The man by his foot appeared to be napping like a weary street
beggar, but Matt knew he was dead.
Matt closed his eyes to shut the scene out. He placed
his hand over his chest and felt damp warmth. He needed help. He opened his
eyes to see a blurry wall a few feet away spanned by his legs and a dead man.
He closed his eyes again.
No! Matt’s mind screamed.
His eyes flew open and focused on the alley opening.
"Senor," he rasped as a businessman hurried past no more than ten
feet away. "Senor, please." He reached out, but the man didn't hear.
He called again, but no one heard.
Matt reached for his phone. It was gone. He had no
photos. No contact. Blood stained his dark shirt. Drained down the front of his
pants. Reached the cobblestones. He'd die if he didn't get help.
"Senorita," He gasped as his eyes rested on
a pair of red and silver heels not ten-inches from his shoes. He looked up the
endlessly long legs to the skimpy skirt and nearly absent blouse. Her fingers
twitched, asking for money.
He pulled out his wallet. He fumbled with it and
finally withdrew two hundred dollars in American money. He had no strength to
raise his hand, so he laid it on his knee. "Whatever you ask. It's yours
if you will help me to a safe place," he whispered through pale lips.
"Come," she spoke in soft Spanish. She
stooped down and pulled him to his feet. Matt felt himself being half dragged
down the alley. He didn't know if she was taking him to his assailants or
safety. His head spun and he saw patches of blackness. They crept in tighter
and tighter as night approached. He felt himself falling into a deep cold pit.
It wasn't what Matt thought death would be like. There
was too much pain. Terrible pain. And fuzziness. It was colder than he thought
it should be. There was too much confusion. Was he balanced between life and
death? Unable to stay in one world or tumble into the other? His cold mind
begged to be on one side or the other—not stuck in the foggy middle.
End Chapter 40
As I've reread some of these chapters I've remembered many long hours of researching... Sometimes it was fun--like when I took ground and arial tours over Mexico City via video recordings from a helicopter. Sometimes the research entertained my family over the dinner table. Other times it made my stomach turn. There were days at a time when all I did was research. I felt like Heromine in a library discovering a magical (and crazy and interesting and frightening, etc.) world beyond my front door that I'd hopefully never experience. At times it took several days to digest what I'd learned before I could use it in a way that would mean a little something to Jenn, and much much more to her husband, Nick, and his coworkers.
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